Introduction to Computer
Networks and Telecommunications
Carnegie Mellon University
The Practical Software Engineering Series
Network Models and Asynchronous Communication
Jun 2008 © 2008, Shawn A. Butler, Ph.D. 1
Objectives
Network Models
Understand the OSI and TCP/IP model layers
Understand the difference between Connection Oriented and
Connectionless Services
Asynchronous Communication
Understand Asynchronous communication (RS-232)
Understand how digital information is sent via RS-232
Understand the limitations of hardware
Understand the concept of bandwidth
Jun 2008 © 2008, Shawn A. Butler, Ph.D. 2
OSI Model Principles
A layer should be created where a different abstraction is
needed
Each layer should perform a well-defined function
The function of each layer should be chosen with an eye
toward defining internationally standardized protocols
The layer boundaries should be chosen to minimize the
information flow across the interfaces
The number of layers should be large enough that distinct
functions need not be thrown together in the same layer
out of necessity and small enough that the architecture
does not become unwieldy
Jun 2008 © 2008, Shawn A. Butler, Ph.D. 3
7 Layer OSI Model
Application Protocol
7 Application Application 7
Presentation Protocol
6 Presentation Presentation 6
Session Protocol
5 Session Session 5
Transport Transport Protocol Transport
4 4
Network Protocol
3 Network Network 3
Data Link Protocol
2 Data link Data link 2
Physical Protocol
1 Physical Physical 1
transmission media
Jun 2008 © 2008, Shawn A. Butler, Ph.D. 4
Physical Layer
Physical layer concerned with transmitting raw bits over a
communication channel
Each side must recognize a 1 bit as a 1 bit, not a 0 bit
How many volts should be used?
How many nanoseconds a bit lasts?
Simultaneous transmission 7 Application
Application Protocol
Application 7
Presentatio Presentation Protocol Presentatio
6 6
n n
Initial connection 5 Session
Session Protocol
Session 5
Network connector pins
Transport Protocol
4 Transport Transport 4
Network Protocol
3 Network Network 3
Data Link Protocol
2 Data link Data link 2
Physical Protocol
1 Physical Physical 1
Jun 2008 © 2008, Shawn A. Butler, Ph.D. 5
Data Link Layer
Data link layer transforms a raw transmission facility into a
line that appears free of undetected transmission errors to
the network layer
Sender breaks up data into data frames
Receiver confirms each frame with an acknowledgement frame
Controls flow rates based on buffer space Application Protocol
7 Application Application 7
Broadcast networks control channel access 6
Presentatio
n
Presentation Protocol Presentatio
n
6
Session Protocol
5 Session Session 5
Transport Protocol
4 Transport Transport 4
Network Protocol
3 Network Network 3
Data Link Protocol
2 Data link Data link 2
Physical Protocol
1 Physical Physical 1
Jun 2008 © 2008, Shawn A. Butler, Ph.D. 6
Network Layer
Network Layer controls operation of the subnet
Determines how ‘packets’ are routed from source to destination
Determines the start of each conversation
Regulate routing of packets
Ensures heterogeneous networks can communicate with each
other
Application Protocol
7 Application Application 7
Presentatio Presentation Protocol Presentatio
6 6
n n
Session Protocol
5 Session Session 5
Transport Protocol
4 Transport Transport 4
Network Protocol
3 Network Network 3
Data Link Protocol
2 Data link Data link 2
Physical Protocol
1 Physical Physical 1
Jun 2008 © 2008, Shawn A. Butler, Ph.D. 7
Transport Layer
Transport Layer accepts data from the upper layer, splits it
into smaller units, passes to the network layer and ensures
pieces arrive correctly at the other end
Isolates service from upper layers
Offers different types of services
Provides end-to-end service Application Protocol
7 Application Application 7
Presentatio Presentation Protocol Presentatio
6 6
n n
Session Protocol
5 Session Session 5
Transport Protocol
4 Transport Transport 4
Network Protocol
3 Network Network 3
Data Link Protocol
2 Data link Data link 2
Physical Protocol
1 Physical Physical 1
Jun 2008 © 2008, Shawn A. Butler, Ph.D. 8
Session Layer
Session layer allows different machines to establish
sessions between them
Provides dialog control (whose turn to transmit)
Token management
Synchronization (checkpointing)
Application Protocol
7 Application Application 7
Presentatio Presentation Protocol Presentatio
6 6
n n
Session Protocol
5 Session Session 5
Transport Protocol
4 Transport Transport 4
Network Protocol
3 Network Network 3
Data Link Protocol
2 Data link Data link 2
Physical Protocol
1 Physical Physical 1
Jun 2008 © 2008, Shawn A. Butler, Ph.D. 9
Presentation Layer
Presentation layer is concerned with the syntax and
semantics of the information transmitted
Electronic data interchange (EDI)
Application Protocol
7 Application Application 7
Presentatio Presentation Protocol Presentatio
6 6
n n
Session Protocol
5 Session Session 5
Transport Protocol
4 Transport Transport 4
Network Protocol
3 Network Network 3
Data Link Protocol
2 Data link Data link 2
Physical Protocol
1 Physical Physical 1
Jun 2008 © 2008, Shawn A. Butler, Ph.D. 10
Application Layer
Application layer contains a variety of protocols such as
HTTP, FTP, Email, and Network News
Application Protocol
7 Application Application 7
Presentatio Presentation Protocol Presentatio
6 6
n n
Session Protocol
5 Session Session 5
Transport Protocol
4 Transport Transport 4
Network Protocol
3 Network Network 3
Data Link Protocol
2 Data link Data link 2
Physical Protocol
1 Physical Physical 1
Jun 2008 © 2008, Shawn A. Butler, Ph.D. 11
TCP/IP Reference Model
Application Application
Presentation
Session
Transport Transport
Network Internet
Data link
Host-to-Network
Physical
OSI Model TCP/IP Model
Jun 2008 © 2008, Shawn A. Butler, Ph.D. 12
TCP/IP Model: Host-to-Network Layer
Not defined
Many different networks exist
Many different hosts exist
Jun 2008 © 2008, Shawn A. Butler, Ph.D. 13
TCP/IP Model: Internet Layer
The Internet Layer is a connectionless layer that injects
packets into the network traveling independently to
destinations
Similar to international mail systems
Packets arrive in different order than originally sent
This layer delivers IP packets to where they are supposed
to go
Jun 2008 © 2008, Shawn A. Butler, Ph.D. 14
TCP/IP Model: Transport Layer
This Transport Layer allows entities to carry on a
conversation
Consists of two protocols
TCP – a connection oriented protocol
Flow control
Message assembly and re-assembly
Error and sequencing control
UDP – a connectionless protocol
One time request-reply queries
Time sensitive messages
Jun 2008 © 2008, Shawn A. Butler, Ph.D. 15
TCP/IP Model: Application Layer
Applications
SMTP – Network management application
FTP – File transfer application
HTTP – Web server and client application
USENET – Information application
DNS – Internet name and IP service
Jun 2008 © 2008, Shawn A. Butler, Ph.D. 16
Disadvantages
TCP/IP Model
OSI Model
Too Late Model does not clearly
distinguish service,
Too Complex
interface, and protocol
Poor Implementations concepts
Very specific to the
implementation
Host-to-network layer
not really defined
Some protocols are
not well thought out
Jun 2008 © 2008, Shawn A. Butler, Ph.D. 17
Connection Oriented and Connectionless
Connection Oriented Networks
Packets are sent through an establish route when the
connection is established
Connection oriented networks allow service providers to ensure
a desired Quality of Service (QoS)
Connection oriented networks provide a convenient mechanism
to bill
Connectionless Networks
Each packet is sent independently
Software must deal with packet assembly at the destination
Jun 2008 © 2008, Shawn A. Butler, Ph.D. 18
Layered Network Model
Now that you understand the layered network model
Let’s start with layer 1 – The Physical Layer
Jun 2008 © 2008, Shawn A. Butler, Ph.D. 19
Physical Layer
Sending and receiving side must agree on what constitutes
a 1 bit and a 0 bit
How many volts should be used to represent a 1 and a 0?
How many nanoseconds does the representation last?
Set up and tear down of a connection?
How many pins does the network connector have and what
are they used for?
Jun 2008 © 2008, Shawn A. Butler, Ph.D. 20
Asynchronous Communication
Asynchronous communication means that the sender and
receiver do not have to coordinate before data can be
transmitted
Sender can wait arbitrarily long between transmissions
Sender sends when data is ready
Receiver must be ready to receive whenever data arrives
Used for modems, keyboards, and terminals
Jun 2008 © 2008, Shawn A. Butler, Ph.D. 21
Representing Bits
Jun 2008 © 2008, Shawn A. Butler, Ph.D. 22
RS-232
Specifies the transmission of characters
Senders can transmit any time
Transmission time can be any length
Once transmission begins, there can be no delays
Never leaves 0 volts on the line, negative voltage
corresponding to 1
Sender and receiver must agree on length of time the
voltage will be held for each bit
Sender must leave phantom 1 bit at the end of each
character (minimum idle time)
Jun 2008 © 2008, Shawn A. Butler, Ph.D. 23
Positive and Negative Volts Transmit Data
Jun 2008 © 2008, Shawn A. Butler, Ph.D. 24
Limitations
Jun 2008 © 2008, Shawn A. Butler, Ph.D. 25
Baud Rate, Framing, and Errors
Baud rate is the number of changes in the signal per second
that the hardware generates
RS-232 connections operate at 300, 9600, and 19200 bits
per second
Framing errors occur when voltages do not agree or the
stop bit does not occur where it is supposed to occur
With RS-232 connections, baud rate = bits/sec
Jun 2008 © 2008, Shawn A. Butler, Ph.D. 26
Full Duplex Asynchronous Communication
Communicating simultaneously!
Jun 2008 © 2008, Shawn A. Butler, Ph.D. 27
Bandwidth
Bandwidth is the maximum rate that the hardware can
change a signal
Bandwidth is measured in cycles per second or Hz
4000 Hz hardware can transmit a signal that oscillates back
and forth at a rate of 4000 cycles per second
Nyquists theorem states that the maximum rate at which
data can be sent is 2B, where B is the bandwidth
If the transmission system uses K possible values of voltage
instead of 2, then the maximum rate in bits per second is:
D = 2Blog2K
Jun 2008 © 2008, Shawn A. Butler, Ph.D. 28
Summary
The OSI model presents 7 layers which are not all
implemented in today’s networks
The TCP/IP model is currently used, but doesn’t define all
network functions required
Each layer provides specific services and were designed to
be simple and efficient
The physical layer defines and interprets the signals on the
physical medium
Bandwidth is a function of the physical medium and the
number of bits that can be represented on the physical
medium
Jun 2008 © 2008, Shawn A. Butler, Ph.D. 29
